# De Geer 2018: The 22 September 1979 Vela Incident: Radionuclide and Hydroacoustic Evidence for a Nuclear Explosion > Lars-Erik De Geer, Christopher M. Wright, 2018. 30 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The latest substantive analysis (the scout's citation) and… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CW4WMYJ4E2N/the-22-september-1979-vela-incident-radionuclide-and Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[1979 Vela incident](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident)De Geer 2018 **0** # The 22 September 1979 Vela Incident: Radionuclide and Hydroacoustic Evidence for a Nuclear Explosion Lars-Erik De Geer, Christopher M. Wright, 2018. _Science & Global Security 26(1), 20–54_. Reconstructs Lester VanMiddlesworth's measurements of iodine-131 in thyroids of sheep slaughtered in Melbourne in October and November 1979, publishing three gamma spectra; links them to rain on 26 September along a trajectory from near the Prince Edward Islands; and reviews the classified NRL hydroacoustic study, in which Ascension Island hydrophones recorded an impulsive signal at 02:43 UTC on a bearing and path consistent with an origin there at the time of the flash. Concludes the optical, radionuclide and hydroacoustic evidence together strongly indicate a nuclear test of a few kilotons. **1979 Vela incident** Articledoi: **[10.1080/08929882.2018.1451050](https://doi.org/10.1080/08929882.2018.1451050)** Checked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The latest substantive analysis (the scout's citation) and the basis of the radionuclide and hydroacoustic evidence. ## Cited by on this site 30 records [The Ascension and Argentia signals came from an explosion near the Prince Edward Islands at the flash time.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/answers/ANS0CW4X3KA5093/the-ascension-and-argentia-signals-came-from-an-explosion) Answer ANS [The iodine-131 came from a test near the Prince Edward Islands, carried east and rained out over…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/answers/ANS0CW4X5A032M1/the-iodine-131-came-from-a-test-near-the-prince-edward) Answer ANS [The readings were background, contamination or measurement error.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/answers/ANS0CW4X69827MZ/the-readings-were-background-contamination-or-measurement) Answer ANS [Naval Research Laboratory hydroacoustic report on the 22 September 1979 event](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/artifacts/ART0CW4XB5G4N7C/naval-research-laboratory-hydroacoustic-report-on-the-22) ART [Thyroid glands of sheep slaughtered in Melbourne, October–November 1979, and their gamma spectra](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/artifacts/ART0CW4XBDA1RR4/thyroid-glands-of-sheep-slaughtered-in-melbourne) ART [Vela 6911 bhangmeter records of Alert 747 (YCA and YVA traces)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/artifacts/ART0CW4XAE2734B/vela-6911-bhangmeter-records-of-alert-747-yca-and-yva-traces) ART [Lester VanMiddlesworth's thyroid-monitoring ledgers and notebooks](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0CW4X9YE7CA3/lester-vanmiddlesworths-thyroid-monitoring-ledgers-and) Dataset DAT [Online supplements to the 2017 and 2018 Science & Global Security papers](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0CW4X9PM0TSR/online-supplements-to-the-2017-and-2018-science-global) Dataset DAT [A NOAA and NRL trajectory from near Marion Island passes south-eastern Australia on 26 September, when it…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X5SM0AVJ/a-noaa-and-nrl-trajectory-from-near-marion-island-passes) Evidence EVD [Air-sampling networks in Australia and New Zealand detected nothing.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X61E5Q7X/air-sampling-networks-in-australia-and-new-zealand-detected) Evidence EVD [Ascension hydrophones recorded an impulsive signal at 02:43 UTC on a bearing and path consistent with an…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4WZEG1TB9/ascension-hydrophones-recorded-an-impulsive-signal-at-02-43) Evidence EVD [Fine structure matched hydroacoustic signals from French atmospheric tests in the Pacific.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X42Y4940/fine-structure-matched-hydroacoustic-signals-from-french) Evidence EVD [Iodine-131 in thyroids of sheep slaughtered in Melbourne in October and November 1979, consistent with a…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4WZPA7CGD/iodine-131-in-thyroids-of-sheep-slaughtered-in-melbourne-in) Evidence EVD [One sample slaughtered 22 October gave about 1.9 ± 0.6 pCi/g corrected to slaughter; three spectra show…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X5HT1EE4/one-sample-slaughtered-22-october-gave-about-1-9-0-6-pci-g) Evidence EVD [Ruina panel member Wolfgang Panofsky wrote that the thyroid detector was unshielded and triggered by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X6RW4VDY/ruina-panel-member-wolfgang-panofsky-wrote-that-the-thyroid) Evidence EVD [Signal at SNR over 300, bearing 198 ± 10 degrees, path about 10,000 km, origin time about 00:52 UTC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X3V438MV/signal-at-snr-over-300-bearing-198-10-degrees-path-about-10) Evidence EVD [The Ruina panel judged the hydroacoustic evidence not persuasive.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X4TC0435/the-ruina-panel-judged-the-hydroacoustic-evidence-not) Evidence EVD [The first pulse of Alert 747 is inconsistent with the few hundred unexplained signals from which the panel…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X2VW424P/the-first-pulse-of-alert-747-is-inconsistent-with-the-few) Evidence EVD [VanMiddlesworth's first reading in November 1979 found no abnormal radioactivity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/evidence/EVD0CW4X6H25TP6/vanmiddlesworths-first-reading-in-november-1979-found-no) Evidence EVD [ABC Television reports the Vela detection](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/events/EVT0CW4WTT27PN0/abc-television-reports-the-vela-detection) EVT [De Geer and Wright publish the radionuclide and hydroacoustic evidence](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/events/EVT0CW4WWGR739F/de-geer-and-wright-publish-the-radionuclide-and) EVT [Hydrophones near Ascension Island record an impulsive signal](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/events/EVT0CW4WT2M5Y46/hydrophones-near-ascension-island-record-an-impulsive-signal) EVT [Vela 6911 records a double flash (Alert 747)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/events/EVT0CW4WSTT3Y9Z/vela-6911-records-a-double-flash-alert-747) EVT [Lars-Erik De Geer](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/people/FIG0CW4WRBY391S/lars-erik-de-geer) FIG [Lester VanMiddlesworth](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/people/FIG0CW4WR4416YG/lester-vanmiddlesworth) FIG [The 1979 Vela incident](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident) The mystery article MYS [Air Force Technical Applications Center](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/organisations/ORG0CW4WRVJ7STH/air-force-technical-applications-center) ORG [US Naval Research Laboratory](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/organisations/ORG0CW4WS3C63W2/us-naval-research-laboratory) ORG [Did the hydroacoustic signal come from the same event as the flash?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/questions/QST0CW4WY7E4HGQ/did-the-hydroacoustic-signal-come-from-the-same-event-as-the) Question QST [Was the iodine-131 in Australian sheep thyroids fallout from the event?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/vela-incident/questions/QST0CW4WYF84TRD/was-the-iodine-131-in-australian-sheep-thyroids-fallout-from) Question QST ## Cite it ``` De Geer, L. E., & Wright, C. M. (2018). The 22 September 1979 Vela Incident: Radionuclide and Hydroacoustic Evidence for a Nuclear Explosion. Science & Global Security 26(1), 20–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/08929882.2018.1451050 ``` [Read it free at scienceandglobalsecurity.org](https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/2018/05/the_22_september_1979_vela_inc_1.html) Key **SRC** 0CW4WMYJ4E2N Kind Journal article Rights The publisher's Kept 26 Oct 2026, for editors Checked Against the published article Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS. [CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CW4WMYJ4E2N/the-22-september-1979-vela-incident-radionuclide-and/csl.json)